Sam Fuld to headline Mavs’ baseball dinner

Thursday

Jan 24, 2013 at 3:15 AM

By MIKE ZHEPortsmouth Herald

PORTSMOUTH — Even from his home in Jupiter, Fla., Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Sam Fuld can see how baseball has exploded on the Seacoast.

The Durham native will be one of the guests of honor Friday at the inaugural Hot Stove Dinner at the Residence Inn in downtown Portsmouth. The event is being hosted by the Seacoast Mavericks, the local entry in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League.

“I think it’s great,” said Fuld earlier this week. “The area sort of demands it now. Baseball in the Seacoast area has really blossomed in the last few years. It’s pretty fun to watch.”

Fuld will be joined on the dais Friday by Boston Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The two players share an agent — Durham native Jim Munsey — and both recently signed one-year contracts with their respective clubs.

The baseball hot stove dinner is hardly a new concept, especially not in New Hampshire, where some form of a Granite State Baseball Dinner has been held for more than 50 years.

The Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats have been hosting an event in downtown Manchester for nearly a decade. Prior to that, the independent Nashua Pride and Union Leader newspaper served stints as hosts.

Baseball momentum has been building on the Seacoast for more than a decade. The baseball team at Portsmouth High School set a national record with its 89-game win streak crafted between 2008 and 2012, winning four straight Division II titles during that span.

The Mavericks, who are entering their third season in the FCBL, announced last month that they were moving home games from Spaulding High School in Rochester to Leary Field downtown. Their new season opens June 6.

“We started to kick around the idea of hosting our own hot stove dinner. Once we knew we were moving to Portsmouth it just became more and more of a focus,” said Mavericks president Mike Daboul. “Part of the process was always to include Sam Fuld. That’s always been a no-brainer.

“We reached out to Jim and said, ‘How do we make this work?’”

Fuld, who starred at Phillips Exeter Academy and later Stanford, and reached the big leagues in 2007 with the Chicago Cubs, is the local product who’s gone the farthest. He and the Rays open spring training in Port Charlotte, Fla., on Feb. 16.

He has known Mavericks and USA Training Centers owner Dave Hoyt practically since his days as a University of New Hampshire batboy, back when Hoyt was an assistant coach. From the time Hoyt’s precursor to USA Training Centers — Home Run USA — opened in the Southgate Plaza in Portsmouth in 2002, Fuld has been an offseason regular.

“When my pro career started, I was a nomad for a while in the offseason,” said Fuld. “But when I was back in Durham I’d go to USA Training Centers and work out, or give some lessons.”

Fuld, who was eligible for salary arbitration for the first time this year, agreed to a one-year deal Friday that will pay him $725,000 in 2013. He made $489,400 last season according to mlb.com.

He missed most of the year after undergoing surgery on his right wrist. He hit .255 with a .318 on-base percentage in 44 games in 2012 after a breakout 2011 season that saw him bat .240 in 105 games.

“I’m healthy,” he said. “Just getting after it in the gym and doing some baseball stuff.”

While his statistics aren’t eye-popping, it’s the way he plays the game, hard-nosed and graceful, a highlight waiting to happen defensively, that’s endeared him to teammates and fans.

“I hear the world is covered by 75 percent water,” Rays pitcher David Price was famously quoted as saying in 2011. “The other 25 percent is covered by Sam Fuld.”

Saltalamacchia is coming off a third season in Boston that saw him bat .222 with a career-high 25 home runs. He agreed last week to a one-year contract worth a reported $4.5 million. Pitchers and catchers head to spring training under new manager John Farrell on Feb. 10.

“We were hoping for a Red Sox player that’s a name,” said Daboul. “Salty has definitely proven to be one of their frontline guys.”

There are a limited number of tickets remaining for the event, which also includes a silent auction and begins at 6 p.m. Cost to attend is $80, with the proceeds helping defray the operating costs for the Mavericks, a non-profit organization.

“There are two reasons why we’re having this dinner,” said Daboul. “One, we really want to introduce ourselves to the community of Portsmouth, show them that we’re an organization that’s run professionally and has these ties to the major leagues. And two, we thought it would be something that fits in really nicely here.”new concept, especially not in New Hampshire, where some form of a Granite State Baseball Dinner has been held for more than 50 years.

The Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats have been hosting an event in downtown Manchester for nearly a decade. Prior to that, the independent Nashua Pride and Union Leader newspaper served stints as hosts.

Baseball momentum has been building on the Seacoast for more than a decade. The baseball team at Portsmouth High School set a national record with its 89-game win streak crafted between 2008 and 2012, winning four straight Division II titles during that span.

The Mavericks, who are entering their third season in the FCBL, announced last month that they were moving home games from Spaulding High School in Rochester to Leary Field downtown. Their new season opens June 6.

“We started to kick around the idea of hosting our own hot stove dinner. Once we knew we were moving to Portsmouth it just became more and more of a focus,” said Mavericks president Mike Daboul. “Part of the process was always to include Sam Fuld. That’s always been a no-brainer.

“We reached out to Jim and said, ‘How do we make this work?’”

Fuld, who starred at Phillips Exeter Academy and later Stanford, and reached the big leagues in 2007 with the Chicago Cubs, is the local product who’s gone the farthest. He and the Rays open spring training in Port Charlotte, Fla., on Feb. 16.

He has known Mavericks and USA Training Centers owner Dave Hoyt practically since his days as a University of New Hampshire batboy, back when Hoyt was an assistant coach. From the time Hoyt’s precursor to USA Training Centers — Home Run USA — opened in the Southgate Plaza in Portsmouth in 2002, Fuld has been an offseason regular.

“When my pro career started, I was a nomad for a while in the offseason,” said Fuld.